Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell (September 14, 1818 – July 25, 1875)[1] was a mountain man, rancher, scout, and farmer who at one point owned more than 1,700,000 acres (6,900 km2).

Along with Thomas Catron and Ted Turner, Maxwell was one of the largest private landowners in United States history.

He was the son of Hugh Maxwell, an Irish immigrant, and Odile Menard, daughter of Pierre Menard, a French-Canadian fur trader who was serving on the Illinois Territorial Council and who became the first Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois shortly after Maxwell's birth.

Both eventually signed up with John C. Frémont in 1841 for western expeditions, with Carson serving as guide and Maxwell as chief hunter.

[3] In 1843 Beaubien and his partner, Guadalupe Miranda, had received a land grant of a million acres (4,000 km2) in northeast present-day New Mexico.

At the conclusion of the American Civil War, gold was discovered on his property at present-day Baldy Mountain (Colfax County, New Mexico).

Maxwell and his family renovated the former officers' quarters into a beautiful Spanish Colonial house surrounding a large inner courtyard.

Litigation over whether his land claims were legitimate would continue until 1887 when the United States Supreme Court[4] approved a clear title.